As you may have read, St. Charles has entered into a letter of intent with The Center to explore expanding our relationship with the goal of preserving and strengthening access to orthopedic, neurosurgical and physical medicine in the region. I want to review our announcement with you here because this effort is so important to our region and to the health system.
St. Charles has longstanding ties with The Center, which has 27 surgeons and 27 advanced practice providers offering orthopedic, neurosurgery and physical medicine care in Central Oregon. We currently own The Center’s clinic building on our Bend campus and we co-own Cascade SurgiCenter — also located in that building — with The Center physicians.
Our announcement means we are exploring the possibility of employing a substantial number of The Center physicians, providers and employees. If the transaction ultimately moves forward, The Center’s providers will become part of the St. Charles umbrella of services.
This is, simply put, the right thing to do. While not without risk, St. Charles is in a position to step in and help support a service line that is critical to our community. Due to ongoing reimbursement challenges and rising operating costs, we have lost a dramatic number of orthopedic surgeons in the region in the past 18 months. I regularly hear from patients who are frustrated at long delays in orthopedic care. It currently takes patients in need of a joint replacement six months to receive an initial consultation appointment and another six months before surgery is scheduled.
Working closely with The Center’s leadership, we understand the clinic is at risk of losing additional providers without immediate financial support, which also puts St. Charles Bend’s trauma program at risk. We rely on The Center’s team of orthopedic and neurosurgeons to help us care for more than 2,000 trauma patients every year.
So, we are embarking on an exciting time where our teams will complete a due diligence process and put together a plan and timeline with a goal of completing the transition as soon as possible without disruption to patient care. As part of this process, we have applied to the Oregon Health Authority for an emergency exemption of its Health Care Market Oversight review to expedite the transaction and more quickly shore up services.
Exploring a potential transaction with The Center is possible only because of our recent efforts to stabilize St. Charles. I’m incredibly proud that we are in a position to help support a critical health care service in our region.
Sincerely,
Steve
